Sunday, July 22, 2007

That's a Wrap!

What a week!

Between an influx of new clients, a heavy workload, and 20+ hours of training, I don't have much left in the tank. I'm glad that tomorrow is an "easy" day; a 6 mile jaunt in the a.m. + 1.5 mile ocean swim in the p.m. In between, I'll make some time for business related PR, race debriefings and general chit chat with my athletes. Life couldn't be better!

Training wise, this weekend required a bit of "tweakage." I had originally been planning to execute another intensive pace ride/resistance training session combo on Saturday, but just didn't have enough energy in the tank to "get r' done." Since my return to full time training, I had begun personally experimenting with a higher intensity approach to long course prep, bucking my standard training protocols and trying a more unorthodox weekly format out. It was simply too much to handle, and my system made this point very clear to me on Friday; my fatigue levels were at an all time high! A reality check for sure, and a welcome one at that, as I ended up reverting back to what works, and instantly felt right as rain.

Saturday's session featured a fairly intensive 81 mile spin with my brother Corey. Nothing too taxing, but I was getting fairly hungry by ride's end. The extensive saddle time was much needed, and a nice break from all of the time-trial specific cycling that I've been focusing so heavily upon. A quick lift in the p.m., some BBQ and then back to work writing up schedules until nearly 1 a.m.

Today's run was rather uneventful; a 16 mile jaunt around the "Cape." Legs were a bit underpowered, but this was to be expected thanks to the workload that I'm currently engaged in. All-in-all, it was a great week of training. Two more and I'll be more than ready to roll at Timberman.

As for the coaching business, I can't get over how much growth I've seen this year. I absolutely despise in-your-face advertisement, especially for services like mine, and prefer to let my athlete's results and simple net-working/word of mouth recommendations sell my services instead.

We had some great performances this weekend, most notably Maureen Bruno-Roy's overall win of the women's expert category at the 2007 US Mountain Biking National Championships which were held at Mt. Snow. The victory means that Mo will be going Pro! Her performance on Saturday would have placed her very high up in this year's Pro race, so the future is bright. On a side note, Mo's biggest supporter, husband Matt Roy, is ripping up the ultra-cycling scene, having recently won a major 12 hour event up in NY. Matt is prepping hard-core for the Maine solo-brevet record (border to border) on August 25th; Not bad for a guy who completely shattered his femur just over a year ago during thanks to a bad crash during a crit!

Also in the news... Sabra Hawkes, a member of the US Paralympic Team, was out in Chula Vista training at the Olympic Training Center. For those of you not in the know, Sabra just crushed both the 100 and 200 meter US records at the US Paralympic Track & Field Championships a couple of weeks ago. She's actively prepping for the 2007 Pan Am Games, which will be held in Brazil later in August. Very exciting!

Liam O'Connell continues to roll down in Texas. Though in full fledged training mode and running/riding on tired legs, he still managed to place 2nd at today's Webster Duathlon. Nice work Liam!

So that's a wrap. Time for a shower, a few snacks and some reading.

P.M. Swim tomorrow at Good Harbor Beach if anyone lives close by and is interested. Shoot me an email and I'll fill you in on the specifics.

Janda

2 comments:

Liam O'Connell said...

i only wish i could swim at ghb. texas is too hot.

JRM said...

Come and join us for a couple of group swims when you're home!